Track levelling device



April 4, 1967 J. K. STEWART TRACK LEVELLING DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1964 v N 6E of J United States Patent 3,312,179 TRACK LEVELLHNG DEVICE John K. Stewart, Dorval, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Canada Iron Foundries Limited, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Filed Sept. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 399,323 Claims priority, application Canada, Oct. 8, 1963, 886,282 6 Claims. (Cl. 1047) This invention relates to surveying and jacking systems for railroad tracks. In the Canadian Patent 650,557 issued Oct. 16, 1962, there is described a surveying system utilizing an infra-red beam projector mounted on a satellite car which precedes a railroad vehicle having jacking and tamping device's there-on and carrying on the rear end thereof an infra-red beam receiver, a sensor shadow device being located between the transmitter and the receiver in contact with the rails of the track at the jacking station. When the sensor element detects a dip in the track, infra-red light is received by the infra-red receiver and an automatic jacking and tamping sequence is initiated until the sensor detects that the dip in the track has been corrected and terminates the jacking and tamping operation.

Such sophisticated and completely integrated automatic systems are expensive and are not economically available to all railroads.

According to an object of the present invention a system is provided which islof a semi-automatic nature and somewhat less sophisticated in its apparatus thereby making it commercially available to a greater number of railroads than the heretofore known systems.

According to the present invention, a system for surveying and jacking a railroad track comprises a vehicle capable of movement on the railroad track and having a jacking device for independently jacking each rail of the track, a target element adapted in operation to be located on the track ahead of vehicle and above the track grade rail, a rear peep-sight attached to the vehicle and in reference contact to the grade rail and located thereabove a fore-sight element located adjacent the jacking devices, in reference contact with the rails and located above the grade rail, a visual cross level indicating device on the fore-sight element, means for operating the grade rail jack and means for operating the other rail jack.

According to a feature of the invention the fore-sight element comprises a frame mounted on rail engaging wheels, a sighting bar adapted to be pivotally attached to the frame above the grade rail of the track and a support member on the frame for supporting the sighting bar.

Preferably, the support member comprises a transversely extending crossbar carrying a height adjustable bar engaging members.

A further feature of the present invention is to mount the rear peep-sight on a frame which extends rearwardly of the vehicle and carries an operators seat, a remote control lever for operating the grade rail jack being located adjacent the operators seat, and a control lever for operating the other rail jack being located on the vehicle at a second operators station adjacent the fore-sight element.

The following is description by way of example of one embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the system in operating position; and

FIGURE 2 is a detail of the fore-sight element looking towards the other peep-sight.

Turning now to the drawings 10 is a railroad maintenance-of-way vehicle mounted on rail engaging wheels 11 and carrying a jacking device 12 at the front end thereof. The jacking device 12 may be any suitable form of power operated jacking device. The jacking device should comprise a track clamping device and a jacking element for each rail operating independently of its fellow. The vehicle may suitably be provided with tamping heads 13 which would tamp the track when jacked.

A target element comprising a spot board 15 mounted on a collapsible aluminium frame 16 capable of being clamped to the rail provides one element of the surveying system and the other two elements comprise a rear peepsight 20 mounted on a rail engaging wheel 21 on a rearwardly extending tubular frame 22 and the third element of the surveying system comprises a front sight mounted at the jacking station and carrying a cross level element 25.

The fore-sight element 23 comprises a frame 28 mounted on rail engaging wheels 29 and having a pair of upright members 30. The frame further comprises a crossbar element 31 pivotally mounted at 32 and 33 to the uprights 3i? and carrying a centrally located upstanding height adjustable member 35. A pair of wing members 36, 37 extend upwardly from the ends of the crossbar 31 and have bearings 39 and 40 therein. A sighting bar 41 engages and rests on the centrally located upstanding member 35 and is pivoted on a pin 45 in the bearing 39 (when the rail 50 is the grade rail and pivoted on a pin in the bearing 40 when the rail 51 is the grade rail). The member 35 is provided with an adjustable nut 52. The bar 41 moves freely relative to the member 36 when pivoted at 39 and carries thereon a visual cross level indicating device 25 such as a spirit level.

At the rear peep-sight station 20 and mounted on the tubular frame 22 is a seat 60 on which one of the operators, usually the gang foreman, may sit. A second seat 61 is provided for a machine operator adjacent the foresight device in such a fashion that he can observe the bubble of the spirit level. The operator at the rear peepsight station is provided with a remote control lever 65 which in known manner operates the jacking device for the grade rail whilst the operator near the fore-sight is provided with a control lever 67 for operating the jacking of the other rail. It is to be understood that the remote control lever 65 and the frame 22 can be detached from the car 10 and moved to corresponding connections on the other side of the vehicle 10 when the grade rail changes and also that the operator near the fore-sight will be provided with two levers 67, one of which he will select depending upon which rail is the other rail of the track.

In operation, the target device 16', which is normally carried on the machine 10 when not in operation, is erected and clamped to the track at a selected high point remote from the point where jacking is to commence. The foreman takes his station on the seat 60, peeps through the peep-sight 2i), and aligns the sighting bar 41 .of the foresight element with the target device. When the wheels 29 of the fore-sight element fall into a low point in the track, the foreman can immediately see where the low point is and by operating his lever 65 cause the grade rail jack to jack the grade rail up until such time as the foreman views through his peep-sight that the sighting bar 41 is in the correct alignment wtih the target device. During the jacking operation the tamping heads will be operated to tamp the jacked track and maintain it in the jacked position. The raising of the grade rail (say the rail 50) causes it to be higher than the rail 51 and thus an out of cross level indication is given by the bubble 55. Now the operator on seat 61 operates his lever 67 to cause the jacks to raise the rail 51 until an in cross level indication is given by the bubble 55. The vehicle operator now moves the vehicle 10 along the track until such point as the jacking and tamping operation has to be repeated.

Where it is desired to bank the track, that is where it is desired to have the rail 51 in upper elevation to the grade rail 50; this is achieved by lowering the nut 52 so that the sighting bar which rests on the member 35 will rotate about its pivot 45. In the embodiment shown, a lowering of the nut 52 by /2" will cause a drop of 1" of the sighting bar at a point above the other rail 51. Now it will be seen that in order to give an indication of cross level, the rail 51 will always have to be 1" in super elevation to the rail 50. Suitably a spirit level may be provided on the target element for reference when it is being erected for curved track.

It will be quite clear that the rear sight does not have to be mounted on an extension frame 22 but rather that the seat 60 could be provided at the rear of the vehicle 10. However, I have found that greater accuracy is obtained when the rear peep-sight is located further away from the front sight 25.

Suitably also the target element and peep-sight may be height adjustable to provide for a variety of surveying methods.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A system for surveying and jacking a railroad track comprising a vehicle capable of movement on the railroad track and carrying a jacking device for independently jacking each rail of the track, a target element adapted in operation to be located on the track ahead of vehicle and above the track grade rail, a rear optical peep-sight attached to the vehicle and in reference contact to the grade rail a fore-sight element located adjacent the jacking devices, in reference contact with the rails and located above the grade rail; a visual cross level indicating device on the fore-sight element; manually operable means for operating the grade rail jack and manually operable means for operating the other rail jack.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the foresight element comprises a frame mounted on rail engaging wheels, a sighting bar pivotally attached to the frame above the grade rail of the track and a support member on the frame for supporting the sighting bar.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the support member comprises a transversely extending cross bar carrying a height adjustable, sighting bar engaging memher.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3 in which the visual cross level indicating device is located on the sighting bar.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the rear peep-sight is mounted on a frame extending rearwardly of the vehicle and carrying an operators seat and in which the means for operating the grade rail jack includes a remote control lever adjacent the operators seat.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5 in which the means for operating the other rail jack comprises a control lever located at a second operators station adjacent the foresight element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,962,979 12/1960 McCormick 3360 3,144,834 8/1964 Stewart 104-7 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SYSTEM FOR SURVEYING AND JACKING A RAILROAD TRACK COMPRISING A VEHICLE CAPABLE OF MOVEMENT ON THE RAILROAD TRACK AND CARRYING A JACKING DEVICE FOR INDEPENDENTLY JACKING EACH RAIL OF THE TRACK, A TARGET ELEMENT ADAPTED IN OPERATION TO BE LOCATED ON THE TRACK AHEAD OF VEHICLE AND ABOVE THE TRACK GRADE RAIL, A REAR OPTICAL PEEP-SIGHT ATTACHED TO THE VEHICLE AND IN REFERENCE CONTACT TO THE GRADE 